Yes, of course I did

When we were planning this trip, I interrupted someone mid-sentence during a zoom call to say, “Lisa… we should go SQUARE DANCING!!”

Colin and Yuri were very confused and the Japan meeting got sidetracked for a while into me reminding them that the only reason they knew Lisa (and Mary indirectly, and then Isaac) is because I met Lisa when she came to Tech Squares at MIT.

Because square dancing was very popular in the 50s, and there was a large post-war American presence in Japan… square dancing is relatively popular in Japan.  The database where one looks up these things lists 8 clubs based in Tokyo.   I picked one based on the location, the clarity of the directions in the database (extremely accurate, but, as I noticed later, last updated in 2005, so maybe I should have been more cautious), and the fact that I knew we would be in Tokyo on the night they met.

Everyone was pretty confused when I showed up, but Otori Squares in Meguro was extremely welcoming.   I feel bad for the one English speaker who got stuck babysitting me — she was very attentive.  They asked me to introduce myself over the mic and answer some questions, all translated by my new BFF. Unfortunately Lisa wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t join me.

It was a little awkward but that disappeared whenever we were actually dancing.  I was mostly able to keep up with the Japanese accents, which I’ve had a lot of problems with in the past. 

The dance was mostly Mainstream with one Plus tip and one set of rounds.  I danced everything but the rounds, only because I couldn’t get positive body language from the lead dancing by herself if it would be okay to join her.  And I have new appreciation for how difficult it must be to round dance when you don’t speak English!

If I’m free at an appropriate time later this trip, I might try to find a higher-level dance to attend.

No good pictures because I was dancing the whole time!